California Surveyors Forums

Anyone using PIX4D and/or photomodeler? Any comments welcomed

thanks for your help

One of the large local grading contractors uses the Pix4DS software to process their UAV/drone data with their RTK data to produce topographic maps for determining quantities. The software has been reported to be intuitive. They offer a class on the software for approximately $1000.

One interesting aspect is the software company offers a license for use on a monthly basis. I believe it was less than $500 per month. The strategy was to use the drone to fly several projects and then, rent the software for a month to process each of the projects. The prevents having to pay maintenance fees and chasing upgrades.

Before anyone says the contractor's work is illegal, save it. The profession is being deregulated one segment at a time. There has been one FAA citation on UAV/drones - see this month's Practice-Based newsletter due out next week.

DWoolley

We are using Pix4D on a regular basis, and have also used the TBC photogrammetry module for our work. Of the two, pix4d is a bit easier to use, and potentially more vesatile, but TBC intergrates better with some of our specific hardware, so both are in use. Pix4D has been very good about continuous updates and fixes to the software. We have also been using the ESRI Drone to Map software, which I believe is based on the Pix4D engine.

Agisoft photoscan is another program with a pretty big following and worth looking at.

Keep in mind that in addition to the software you need some decent horespower in your computer hardware depending on the size of the projects you are trying to tackle with these programs.

If you have any specific questions let me know.

Tom

I'll be in touch. The use of drones in surveying is one of the first things on my list after I get the FAA Rule 107 approval. I purchased a DJI Phantom Pro 3 and have not had the time to get into the technical details yet. Only have had time for photography and videography as a hobby.

One of our CLSA Conference attendees/speakers/sponsors has a firm that will processes aerial images for you. You upload your photo data, and specify which of their variety of products you want as an output. The pricing is based on the amount of data (Gigabytes) you upload, and the level of support you want. Come to the conference and meet Ben Van Der Jagt, President of PixElement.

It'd be interesting to see how they go about it.

Some of the externally processed solutions I've heard of in the past raise concerns regarding responsible charge of the work, as they don't have a licensee stamping the product they're providing you. Without direct knowledge and supervision of the unlicensed individuals doing the processing, I don't believe the surveyor can stamp the product either.